Though we are all hyped for the launch of the Perseverance rover on Mars, NASA's Juno spacecraft gave another spectacular glimpse of the deep jet streams of stormy Jupiter. The probe even saw a real blast in the atmosphere of the planet.
This view of Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere from NASA’s Juno spacecraft includes several of the planet’s southern jet streams.
The big planet looks gorgeous in NASA's latest picture, with only a glimpse of the Great Red Spot visible at the horizon. With the help of the JunoCam camera, citizen scientist Tanya Oleksuik improved the deep jet streams' photo.
Jupiter is the biggest planet of our solar system, and as a gas giant, with some stunning variations of colors, the surface will show off some spectacular storms. NASA's Juno spacecraft has been circling Jupiter since 2016, and the satellite has managed to take some spectacular images of the distant giant planet during that period.
Jet Streams Extend Far Deeper Than Before
In the latest Juno shot, the planet's iconic storm known as the Great Red Spot put in a cameo look. On the upper right, it's clear, sneaking out over the horizon. Scientists have been able to learn from evidence from the probe that these large jet streams penetrate further into the planet than previously thought.
"Using data from Juno's instruments, scientists discovered that Jupiter's powerful atmospheric jet streams extend far deeper than previously imagined," NASA said in a statement.
On the horizon, the storm known as the Great Red Spot is still visible, almost rotated out of view as Juno accelerated about 30 miles per second (48 kilometers per second) away from Jupiter, which is more than 100,000 mph (160,900 kilometers per hour).
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What's That Bright Explosion in Jupiter's Atmosphere?
Meanwhile, a Southwest Research Institute-led instrument studying auroras onboard Juno Spacecraft serendipitously spotted a brilliant light over the clouds of Jupiter last spring.
The Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) team analyzed the data and determined that a bolide, an incredibly bright meteoroid eruption in the gas giant's upper atmosphere, had been captured.
SwRI's Dr. Rohini Giles told SciTechDaily that Jupiter undergoes many bright explosions per year. Hence, these explosions are not rare for Jupiter.
Giles, though, clarified that these blasts are so short-lived that witnessing them is relatively rare. He added that amateur astronomers in the last decade have managed to record six impacts on Jupiter.
UVS has been used to research the morphology, brightness and spectral properties of Jupiter's auroras since Juno arrived at Jupiter in 2016, as the spacecraft cartwheels near the surface every 53 days. UVS observes a swath of the planet throughout a 30-second spin. Short-lived, scattered ultraviolet emissions beyond the auroral region have rarely been marked by the UVS instrument, including a single occurrence on April 10, 2020.
As Juno is a revolving spacecraft, Giles said their discovery is from a brief snapshot of time. He said the point on the planet has been observed by our instrument for just 17 milliseconds. He added they haven't pointed out the cause of the bright flash beyond that time frame.
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